A newly released public report from the U.S. Department of Defense’s inspector general has laid bare deep vulnerabilities in America’s military stockpiles and infrastructure, confirming that months of combat operations against Iran have created critical ammunition shortfalls, exposed production bottlenecks in the U.S. defense industrial base, and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and losses – directly contradicting public assurances from former President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the conflict had not strained U.S. military capabilities.
In the report submitted to Congress on Monday, the watchdog noted that the heavy rate of munitions consumption during Operation Enduring Freedom against Iran has led to strategic gaps in national military stockpiles, while also highlighting longstanding constraints in the domestic defense industry that slow emergency resupply of key weapons. “The munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,” the report reads.
To address the growing gaps and production delays, the Pentagon has implemented a series of adjustment measures, including streamlining military procurement procedures, cutting production lead times for critical weapons, and building up stockpiles of key raw materials, components, and high-priority munitions, the report adds. Even so, the watchdog cautions that expanding domestic production capacity for advanced munitions requires years of lead time and substantial upfront investment, meaning shortfalls are likely to persist for the foreseeable future.
The inspector general’s findings line up with multiple independent reports from major news outlets that emerged in the early months of the conflict. Middle East Eye first reported at the conflict’s onset that the U.S. faced immediate shortages of missile interceptors, leaving allied Gulf states waiting for scheduled weapons deliveries. In August, The Associated Press reported that the drawdown of U.S. stockpiles for the Iran war had severely undermined America’s ability to support Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion, leaving a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced Patriot missile interceptors, the primary system used to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles targeting Ukrainian cities.
Reuters further confirmed the scope of the stockpile depletion, reporting that the U.S. has nearly exhausted its reserves of sophisticated long-range standoff strike missiles. Citing two anonymous defense sources, the outlet reported that the Pentagon has used “virtually all” of its available surface-to-surface precision weapons, including ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles and the newer Precision Strike Missiles.
Beyond ammunition shortages, the inspector general’s report also documents extensive material losses across U.S. military assets in the Middle East. The tally includes four F-15 fighter jets destroyed in Iranian strikes, one F-35 stealth fighter damaged, seven KC-135 aerial refueling tankers damaged, and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and strike drones destroyed. The report also confirms that the U.S. Navy’s primary regional logistics hub in Bahrain was repeatedly targeted by Iranian drone and ballistic missile attacks.
Across U.S. military bases spread across eight Middle Eastern nations – Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan – the report counts hundreds of buildings and structures that have been damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes. The watchdog notes it remains unclear whether all damaged bases will be rebuilt, and equally unclear which government will cover the costs of reconstruction. As of the report’s publication, the cumulative estimated cost of the Iran conflict stands at roughly $33.4 billion, a figure that does not include additional infrastructure repair costs. Of that total, $3.7 billion is attributed to lost and destroyed equipment, while $22.3 billion covers the cost of munitions expended during combat operations.
This assessment aligns with previous reporting from Middle East Eye, which quoted current and former U.S. officials arguing that traditional forward-deployed base infrastructure in the Middle East is no longer a viable strategic posture, given Iran’s proven ability to strike fixed positions with large volleys of drones and ballistic missiles.
The report also outlines the human cost of the conflict: more than 50,000 U.S. personnel have been deployed across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to support operations against Iran, with more than 1,500 air combat missions conducted as of the end of June. According to the watchdog’s casualty tally, seven U.S. service members have been killed in combat operations, and another seven have died in non-hostile incidents connected to the deployment. An additional 417 service members have been wounded in action, the report confirms.
